when to wean from sound machine?

My DS is 2.5. We've been using a sound machine (waves sound) in his room for most of his life. He's now pretty dependent on it. It's part of his bedtime routine to turn it on, and he seems to sleep more soundly with it. DH thinks I am babying him by keeping it on, and wants us to wean him off. We've tried over the last week--twice putting it on a timer so that it would go off during the night (which led to DS waking screaming and asking for it back on) and last night we tried putting the volume lower--DS woke up 4 times last night. He does seem to be dependent on it, and as a family who relied on sleep training, we are very wary of sleep associations. For this reason, does it make sense for us to wean him off?

My concern is that he's never been a good sleeper, but for the past few months things have been going well, and I don't want to rock the boat. Also, in a few weeks, DH goes back to work after the summer and will be waking up and getting ready at 5am in the room right next to DS. Lastly, I am 13 weeks pregnant, and I think the noise barrier might be useful when we have a new baby.

What do you think? Is there a right time to wean a child off of a sound machine? Is it bad to have them dependent on it for sleep?

DD is 29 mos and has always slept w/a sound machine and I have no plans on changing that.Â I have a 5 month old ds and we try to be quiet when she goes to bed but it is impossible.Â I don't see any harm in it as I sleep w/a fan for the noise!